quorum call:

s

the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that the following amendments be -- we're in a quorum call. are we? the presiding officer: we're not in a quorum call here. mr. reid: miracles never cease. the presiding officer: there you are. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that the following amendments be withdrawn: 3396 and 3398. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to a period of morning business with senators allowed to speak up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i've one unanimous consent request for a committee to meet during today's session. it's been approved by senator mcconnell and me. i ask unanimous consent that this request be agreed to and this request be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that with respect to the consideration of the fisa bill,

the text for each of the amendments in order under the previous agreement is at the desk. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations: calendar numbers 834, 835, 877, the nominations be confirmed en bloc, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table, with no intervening action or debate, that no further motions be in order to any of the nominations, any related statements be printed in the record and that president obama be immediately notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the veterans' affairs committee be discharged from further consideration of presidential nomination 2024, that the nomination be confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table with no intervening action or debate, and no further motions be in order to the nomination, any related statements be printed in the record and president obama be immediately notified of the

senate's action and the senate then resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the armed services committee be discharged from further consideration of h.r. 139 -- i'm sorry. 1339. we now proceed to this matter. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 1339, an act to designate the city of salem, massachusetts, as the birthplace of the national guard of the united states. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. mr. reid: i further ask the bill be read a third time, passed, the motion to reconsider be considered phaeupbd laid on the table, with no intervening or debate and statements related to the measure be printed in the record at the appropriate place as if read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the committee on commerce be discharged from further consideration of h.r. 4212 and we now proceed to this

matter. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 4212, an act to prevent the introduction into commerce of unsafe dry wall and so forth and other purposes. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that the vitter substitute amendment which is at the desk be agreed to, the bill as amended be read a third time and passed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table, any statements relating to this matter appear in the record at the appropriate place as if read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask permission, unanimous consent that the committee on commerce be discharged from further consideration of h.r. 5859. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 5859, an act to repeal an obsolete provision in title 49 united states code requiring motor vehicle insurance cost reporting. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to

the measure? without objection. mr. reid: i further ask the bill be read a third time passed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table, there be no intervening action or debate and any statements relating to this matter appear at the appropriate place in the record as if read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i now ask that we proceed to h.r. 3634. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 6364, an act to establish a commission to ensure a suitable observance of the centennial of world war i and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. mr. reid: i then ask that the mccaskill-blunt amendment which is at the desk be agreed torque the bill as amended be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be made and laid on the table with no intervening action or debate and that any related statements appear in the record at the appropriate place as if read. the presiding officer: without objection.

mr. reid: i now ask unanimous consent that we proceed to s. res. 3709. that's s. 3709. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 3709, a bill to require a government accoun accountability office examination of transactions between large financial institutions and the federal government and for other purposes. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the vitter-brown of ohio amendment, which is at the desk, be agreed to, and the bill add amende as e read a third time and passed, motions to reconsider be laid on the table, that all statements related to the bill be placed in the record at the appropriate place as if read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the foreign relations committee be discharged from further consideration of s. res. 613 and we proceed to that matter now. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 613, urging

the governments of europe and the european union to designate hezbollah as a terrorist organization and so forth. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. mr. reid: the ask the senate proceed to a voice vote on the adochghts resolution. -- on the adoption of the resolution. the presiding officer: is there further debate? if not, all in favor say aye. those opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes have it. the resolution is adopted. mr. reid: thanks, mr. president. i ask further that the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table, that there be no intervening action or debate and that any statements related to this matter appear in the record at the appropriate place as if given. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to h.r. 1845. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 1845, an act to provide a demonstration project providing medicare coverage and so forth.

the presiding officer: is there any objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that the bill be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table, that any statements related reeling t relating to tr be placed in the record at the appropriate place as if read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i now ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding the upcoming recess or adjournment of the senate, the president of the senate, the president pro tempore of the senate, and the majority and minority leaders be authorized to make appointments to commissions, committees, boards, conferences or interparliamentary conferences authorized by law, by concurrent action of the two houses or by order of the senate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that from friday, december 21, through thursday, december 27, the majority leader be authorized to sign duly enrolled bills or joint resolutions. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: first of all, mr. president, i appreciate your filling in kind of on an emergency basis to preside.

it's not often we get one of the senior members of the senate to preside and i'm grateful to you. it makes it so much easier on everyone else. i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 12:00 p.m. on monday, december 24, 2012, for a pro forma session only, with no business conducted, and that following the pro forma session, the senate adjourn until 10:00 a.m. on thursday, december 27. following the prayer and the pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day. that following any leader remarks, the senate begin consideration of h.r. 5949, the fisa bill and senator wyden will be recognized. further, that the previous order be amended so there be up to seven hours of debate on the bill, that's the fisa bill, and all other provisions to that previous order remain in effect. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, we've been able to work things out to i hope everyone's satisfaction. we're not going to have a roll call vote -- we're going to have

a roll call vote early in the day on thursday. it will be at 5:30 p.m. on thursday. it will be in relation to the fisa bill or the supplemental appropriations bill. if there's no further business to come before the senate, i ask it adjourn under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until 12:00 noon on monday, december 12:00 noon on monday, december

>> of the topic that's been on the minds of american parents across this country. and that is what do we do about the tragedies of the sort that struck in newtown, connecticut, to avoid such events in the future. like most americans, we were

shocked by what happened. like all americans, we've been discussing all of the various options available to protect our children, and at this point we would like to share our thinking with you. and for that purpose i'd like to introduce wayne louisiana pierre, our executive vice next week we will be available to any of you, so contact us, please, at that point. thank you very much. wayne? >> good morning. the national rifle association, four million mothers, fathers, sons and daughters, joined the

nation in horror, outrage, grief and earnest prayer for the families of newtown, connecticut. who have suffered such an incomprehensible loss as a result of this unspeakable crime. out of respect for the families and until the facts are known, the nra has refrained from comment. while some have tried to exploit tragedy for political gain, we have remained respectively silent. now we must speak for the safety of our nation's children. because for all the noise and anger directed at us over the

past week, no one, nobody has addressed the most important, pressing and immediate question we face: how do we protect our children right now, starting today, in a way that we know works? the only way to answer that question is to face the truth. politicians pass laws for gun-free school zones, they issue press releases bragging about them, they post signs advertising them, and in doing so they tell every insane killer in america that schools are the safest place to inflict maximum

mayhem with minimum risk. how have our nation's priorities gotten so far out of order? think about it. we care about our money, so we protect our banks with armed guards. american airports, office buildings, power plants, courthouses, even sports stadiums are all protected by armed security. we care about our president, so we protect him with armed secret service agents. members of congress work in offices surrounded by capitol police officers. yet when it comes to our most

beloved, innocent and vulnerable members of the american family, our children, we as a society leave them every day utterly defenseless. and the monsters and the predators of the world know it and exploit it. that must change now. the truth is -- >> nra, stop killing our children! st the nra -- [inaudible]

not armed teachers. we've got to end the arming, end the violence! we've got to stop the killing! [inaudible] the nra is killing our children! we've got to stop the violence. ! >> the truth is that our society is populated by an unknown number of genuine monsters, people that are so deranged, so evil, so possessed by voices and driven by demons that no sane person can ever possibly comprehend them. they walk among us every single day. and does anybody really believe that the next adam lanza isn't

planning his attack on a school he's already identified at this very moment? how many more copycats are waiting in the wings for their moment of fame from a national media machine that rewards them with wall-to-wall anticipation and a sense of -- attention and a sense of identity that they crave while provoking others to try to make their mark. a dozen more killers? a hundred more? how can we possibly even guess how many given our nation's refusal to create an active national day -- database of the mentally ill? the fact is this, that wouldn't even begin to address the much larger, more lethal criminal class; killers, robbers,

rapists, gang members who have spread like cancer in every community across our nation. meanwhile, while that happens federal gun prosecutions have decreased by 40% to the lowest levels in a decade. so now due to a declined willingnesses to prosecute dangerous criminals, violent crime is increasing again for the first time in 19 years. add another hurricane, terrorist attack or some other natural or man made disaster, and you've got a recipe for a national nightmare of violence and victimization. and here's another dirty little truth that the media try their best to conceal.

there exists in this country, sadly, a callous, corrupt and corrupting shadow industry that sells and stows violence -- sows violation against its own people. through vicious, violent video games with names like bullet storm, grand theft auto, mortal kombat and splatterhouse. and here's one, it's called kindergarten killers. it's been online for ten years. how come my research staff can find it and all of yours couldn't or didn't want anyone to know you had found it?

add another hurricane, add another natural disaster, i mean, we have blood-soaked films out there like "american psycho," "natural born killers" that are aired on propaganda loops on saturdays and every single day. a thousand music videos, and you all know this, portray life as a joke, and they play murder -- trade murder as a way of life. and then they all have the nerve to call it entertainment. but is that what it really is? isn't fantasizing about killing people as a way to get your kicks really the filthiest form of pornography? in a race to the bottom, media conglomerates compete with one another to shock, violate and

offend every standard of civilized society. by bringing an even more fox tick mix -- toxic mix or reckless behavior and criminal cruelty right into our homes every minute, every day, every hour of every single year. a child growing up in america today witnesses 16,000 murders and 200,000 acts of violence by the time he or she reaches the ripe old age of 18. and throughout it all, too many in the national media, their corporate owners and their stockholders act as silent enablers, if not complicit co-conspirators. rather than face their own moral failings, the media demonize gun

owners. [inaudible conversations] >> the reckless behavior coming from the nra! the nra has blood on its hands! the nra has blood on its hands! shame on the nra! ban assault weapons now! ban assault weapons now! nra, ban assault weapons now! stop killing our children! stop the reckless behavior of the nra! we need gun control now! >> rather than face their own moral failings, the media demonize lawful gun owners, amplify their cries for more laws and fill the national media with misinformation and dishonest thinking that only delay meaningful action and all but guarantee that the next atrocity is only a news cycle away with.

away. the media calls semiautomatic firearms machine guns. they claim these civilian semiautomatic firearms are used by the military. they tell us that the .223 round is one of the most powerful rifle calibers when all of these claims are factually untrue. they don't know what they're talking about. worse, they perpetuate the dangerous notion that one more gun ban or one more law imposed or peaceable, lawful people will protect us where 20,000 other laws have failed. as brave and heroic and as self-sacrificing as those teachers were in those classrooms and as prompt and professional and well-trained as those police were when they

responded, they were unable -- through no fault of their own -- unable to stop it. as parents we do everything we can to keep our children safe. it's now time for us to assume responsibility for our schools. the only way, the only way to stop a monster from killing our kids is to be personally involved and invested in a plan of absolute protection. the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. would you rather have your 911 call bring a good guy with a gun from a mile away or from a minute away? now, i can imagine the

headlines, the shocking head headlines you'll print tomorrow. more guns, you'll claim, are the nra's answer to everything. your implication will be the guns are evil and have no place in society, much less in our schools. but since when did the gun automatically become a bad word? a gun in the hands of a secret service agent protecting our president isn't a bad word. a gun in the hands of a soldier protecting the united states of america isn't a bad word. and when you hear your glass breaking at 3 a.m. and you call 911, you won't be able to pray hard enough for a gun in the hands of a good guy to get there

fast enough to protect you. so why is the idea of a gun good when it's used to protect the president of our country or our police but bad when it's used to protect our children in our schools? they're our kids. they're our responsibility, and it's not just our duty to protect them, it's our right to protect them. you know, five years ago after the virginia tech tragedy when i said we should put armed security in every school, the media called me crazy. but what if, what if when adam

lanza started shooting his way into sandy hook elementary school last friday he'd been confronted by qualified, armed security? will you at least admit it's possible that 26 little kids, that 26 innocent lives might have been spared that day? is it so abhorrent to you that you'd rather continue to risk the alternative? is the press and the political class here in washington, d.c. so consumed by fear and hatred of the nra and american gun owners that you're willing to accept a world where real resistance to evil monsters is

alone, unarmed school principal left to surrender her life, her life to shield those children in her care? no one, no one regardless of personal political prejudice has the right to impose that sacrifice. ladies and gentlemen, there's no national, one-size-fits-all solution to protecting our children. but do know this president zeroed out school emergency planning grants in last year's budget and scrapped secure our schools policing grants in next year's budget. with all the foreign aid the united states does, with all the money in the federal budget, can't we afford to put a police

officer in every single school? even if they did that, politicians have no business and no authority denying us the right, the ability and the moral imperative to protect ourselves and our loved ones from harm. now, the national rifle association knows there are millions of qualified active and retired police. active reserve and retired military. security professionals. certified firefighters, security professionals, rescue personnel and extraordinary corps of patriotic, trained, qualified citizens to join with local school officials and police in devising a protection plan for every single school. we could deploy them to protect our kids now.

we can immediately make america's schools safer relying on the brave men and women in america's police forces. the budgets, and you all know this, everyone in the country knows this, of our local police departments are strained, and the resources are severely limited. but their dedication and courage is second to none, and can they can be deployed right now. i call on congress today to act mealedly to appropriate -- immediately to appropriate whatever is necessary to put armed police officers in every single school in this nation. and to do it now, to make sure that balloon -- that blanket safety is in place before our kids return to school in january.

before congress reconvenes, before we engage in debate over lengthy legislation, regulation or anything else, as soon as our kids return to school after the holiday break, we need to have every single school in the america immediately deploy a protection program proven to work, and by that i mean armed security. right now, today, every school in the united states should plan meetings with parents, school administrators, teachers, local authorities and draw upon every resource that's out there and available to erect a cover done of protection around our can kids right now. every school's going to have a different solution based on its own unique situation. every school in america needs to immediately identify, dedicate and deploy the resources necessary to put these security forces in place though right now.

and the national rifle association, as america's preeminent trainer of law enforcement and security personnel for the past 50 years, we have 11,000 police training instructors in the nra just ready, willing and uniquely qualified to help. our training programs are the most advanced in the world. that expertise must be brought to bear to protect our schools and our children now. we did it for our nation's defense industries and military installations during world war ii. we did it for very young kids with our any eagle child safety program that is throughout the country in schools right now. and we'll do it again today. the nra is going to bring all its knowledge, all its dedication and all its resources to develop a model national

school shield emergency response program for every single school in america that wants it. from armed security to building design and access control to information technology, to student and teacher training, this pull multifaceted program will be developed by the very best experts in the field. former congressman asa hutchinson will lead the effort as national director of the national model school shield program. with a budget of the nra of whatever scope the task requires. his experience as united states attorney, director of the drug enforcement agency and undersecretary of the department of homeland security will give him the knowledge and expertise to hire the most knowledgeable and credentialed experts that are available in the united states of america to get this

program up and running from the first day forward. if we truly cherish our kids more than our money, more than our celebrities, more than our sports stadiums, we must give them the greatest lev of protection -- level of protection possible, and that security is only available with properly-trained, armed good guys. under asa's leadership, our team of security experts will make this program available for the world, protecting our children at school. and we'll make that program available to every single school in america free of charge. that's a plan of action that can and will make a real, positive, indisputable difference in the safety of our children, and it will start right now.

there's going to be a lot of time for talk and debate later. this is a time, this is a day for decisive action. we can't wait for the next unspeakable crime to happen before we act. we can't lose precious time debating legislation that won't work. we mustn't allow politics or personal prejudice to divide us. we must act now for the sake of every child in america. i call on every parent, i call on every teacher, i call on every school administrator, every law enforcement officer in this country to join with us and help create a national school shield safety program to protect our children with the only positive line of defense that's

tested and proven to work. and now to tell you more about the program i'd like to introduce the head of the effort, former u.s. congressman, former u.s. attorney for the western district of arkansas and former administrator of the drug enforcement agency, the honorable congressman asa hutchinson. asa? >> [inaudible] >> will you work with the -- >> thank you, wayne. one of the first responsibilities i learned at homeland security was the importance of protecting our nation's critical infrastructure. and there's nothing more critical to our nation's well being than our chirp's safety -- our children's safety. they're this country's future,

and our most precious resource. we all understand that our children should be safe in school, but it is also essential that the parents understand and have confidence in that safety. as a result of the tragedy in newtown, connecticut, that confidence across this nation has been shatter ored. shattered. assurance of school safety must be restored with a sense of urgency. that is why i am grateful that the national rifle association has asked me to lead a team of security experts to assist our schools, parents and our communities. i took this assignment on one condition, that my team of experts will be independent and will be guided solely by what are the best security solutions for the safety of our children while at school. even though we are just starting this process, i envisions this

initiative will have two key elements. first of all, it will be based on a model security plan, a comprehensive strategy for school security based upon the latest, most up-to-date technical information from the foremost experts in their fields. this model security plan will serve as a template, a set of best practices, principles and guidelines that every school in america can tweak as needed and tailor to their own set of circumstances. every school and community is different, but this model security plan will allow every school to choose among its various components to develop a school safety strategy that fits their own unique circumstance whether it's a large urban school or a small rural school such as we have in arkansas or anything in between. armed, trained, qualified school security personnel will be one

element of that plan but by no means the only element. if a school decides for whatever reason that it doesn't want or need armed security personnel, that, of course, is the decision to be made by the parents and the local school board at the local level. the second point i want to make is that this will be a program that does not depend upon massive funding from local authorities or the federal government. instead, it'll make use of local volunteers serving in their own communities. in my home state of arkansas, my son was a volunteer with a local group called watchdog dads who volunteer their time at schools to patrol playgrounds and provide a measure of added security. president clinton initiated a program called cops in school, but the federal response is not sufficient for today's task. whether they're retired police,

retired military or rescue personnel, i think there are people in every community in this country who would be happy to serve if only someone asked them and gave them the training and certifications to do so. the national rifle association is the natural, obvious choice to sponsor this program. their gun safety, marksmanship and hunter education programs have set the standard for well over a century. over the past 25 years, their eddie eagle gun safe program has taught over 26 million kids that real guns aren't toys, and today child gun accidents are at the lowest levels ever recorded. school safety is a complex issue with no simple, single solution. but i believe trained, qualified, armed security is one key component among many that can provide the first line of difference as well as the last

line of defense. again, i welcome the opportunity to serve this vital, potentially life saving effort. thank you very much. >> asa, thank you. >> [inaudible] >> as i indicated, as i indicated at the outset, this is the beginning of a serious conversation. we won't be taking questions today, but andrew and -- [inaudible] our public affairs officer is here. we will be willing to talk to anybody beginning on monday. a text of the speech by wayne and asa hutchinson's remarks are available at nra.org. i want to thank all of you for being with us, and i look forward to talking to you and answering any of your questions next week. thank you very much. [inaudible conversations]

>> if you worked for him, you'd get a her mercurial, sometimes generous, sometimes overbearing, sometimes almost cruel boss who he didn't know how to apologize which men of his class, you know, they're not going to apologize to a young private secretary, a typist. and he had a way of sort of turning the tables, and his version of an apology would be to say, well, actually i'm a very kind man, and you're doing a very good job today. but the issue was never settled. you know, he always had to get the last word in. one night going through whitehall, the german bomb fell nearby. he shouldn't have been out at all. and his security guard pushed him into a doorway. and a couple of thompson's men

were slightly wounded. churchill didn't like to be touched, and he said, thompson, don't do that. and he said, sir, you shouldn't be out here, this is dangerous. and churchill said i'm only doing this because i know you love to. >> 1u7d, an extended 90-minute q&a by paul reid, chosen to complete the final volume of manchester's biography of winston churchill, "the last lion," sunday night at 8 on c-span's "q&a." >> i don't want to spoil the book for you, so let me just say that the year began with the american republic in grave danger. the union armies were struggling to grow virtually overnight from a few thousand men scattered across the continue innocent to more than -- continent to more than half a million. the inexperienced officers thrust into command of these raw volunteers were stymied by the

sheer size of the breakaway confederate states of america which covered a space larger than the entire european territory conquered by napoleon. lincoln's closest adviser was secretary of state william henry seward. seward said that even smart people failed to see the difficulty of the union's task. they didn't apprehend the vast extent of the rebellion, as he put it. military operations, to be successful, must be on a scale hitherto practically unknown in the art of war. >> the second year of the civil war, a strained federal government and weak union forces. david von drahle on 1862 and abraham lincoln's rise to the greatness monday the 24th at 8:30 eastern, part of four days of booktv this weekend and right through christmas day on c-span2.

>> our first experience was to come in a different way than every other family up here. probably never will happen again in history. and it's interesting because after dad was sworn in, we went and took a picture, photo of the family behind the oval office desk. and that night we didn't get to move into the white house because nixon had left so quickly, so unexpectedly, they left their daughter and son-in-law, david eisenhower, to pack all their clothes and belongings. it took, literally took seven or eight days. we had to go back to our little house in alexandria, virginia, suburb ya, you know, the neighborhood was surrounded by secret service. we had been living there, and i'll never forget mom is cooking dinner, literally we are sitting around the dinner table -- [laughter] and mom's cooking dinner, and she looks over at my dad, and she goes, gerry, something's wrong here. [laughter]

you just became president of the united states, and i'm still cooking. [laughter] >> steve ford, linda johnson rob and jenna and barbara bush on growing up in the white house sunday evening at 7:30 eastern and pacific. it's part of four days of american history right through christmas day on c-span3. >> i think that the idea, and it was promoted in certain articles, and i think there was a conflation of politics because joel, who created the show, is a, is a, you know, a public conservative. i mean, the spectrum of political affiliations on the staff were, you know, from the far left to the far right. but it was no agenda, the idea that there was an agenda which was really the charge that was being forwarded, that we were somehow the midwife to policy on coercive interrogation was absurd, it is absurd. which isn't to say that if there

wasn't an issue, if, in fact, our content was affecting the behavior of interrogators in the field, even if it was, you know, .05% of those interrogators actually were taking their cues from jack bauer, there was a systemic problem for sure that i suggested that we, you know, try to intervene on the behalf of those people. and to try to, you know, disabuse them of the fact that this is a television show. and so there, you know, and it is a television show. but it did -- and, again, i may be pollyannaish about this, but the that "24" became the sort of political football that it became for a while anyway, i think, was a valuable thing. >> monday night at 8 on c-span, how movies and television portray politics and policy making followed at 9:20 by george will and at 10:50,